Melkor

I have been using one of these for almost 2 years. Actually bought 3 more this week to have one for each tank. Hasn't rusted, ripped, or broken. Good net.

I have 2 tidal 55s for a future 40 gallon breeder project. I plan on having them on the ends, but opposite corners, create a gentle circular flow. Plan on going lidless, but looked into ¼" solid polycarbonate sheet, since I could use a dremel to custom cut it. Multi wall polycarbonate is easier to cut, but isn't the most aesthetically pleasing.

I did the opposite once, and drained more than I intended. Thankfully the hose in the tank wasn't all the way at the bottom. This hobby is amazing but has a lot of harsh lessons.

Try to find some locally bred ones. Heck, could probably find someone giving away a bunch of offspring!

I use a digital meat thermometer. Eventually ill pick up a tds and ph tester that has temp as well as a comparison. I calibrate using this method https://www.thermoworks.com/thermapen101-creating-an-icebath/

Not really...unless there was no room to swim lol. But in all seriousness its fine as long as the fish are ok with the flow.

Try to find a powerhead that has adjustable flow. That is pretty much your best bet without a canister/HOB. Or you can adjust your BPS, but you will most likely use more co2.

Chinese algae eaters can be aggressive as they mature. Siamese algae eaters are pretty chill. But they usually like a school of 3 or more, and at least 40 gallons.

I'm a fan of glasgarten mineral junkie bites to supplement minerals. But really any freshwater invertebrate foods will probably be fine. Just don't leave uneaten food too long. Most shrimp keepers recommend pulling food after a few hours(i use borosilicate petri dishes to keep it clean and neat, but amanos are notorious for taking off with food). If they don't seem interested in the food, probably have enough biofilm to graze on. Catappa leaves are great too, leave them till they are skeletal, then put a new one in.

Try to avoid adding a ton of chemicals chasing specific water parameters. Your water seems fine, as far as neocaridina or amanos are concerned. The more you swing them the more it stresses livestock and plants. Organic blanched kale and spinach are good calcium vegetables. What do you normally feed your shrimp? Because I've heard shrimp breeders say their ingested mineral intake is more crucial than waterborne minerals.

Can you try a 6 or 8 hour light duration? 12 hours is a long time. Also perhaps splitting up your fertilizer dosing. So one pump is 1ml, use an oral syringe, and do .5ml twice a week, or .14 ml a day (1 divided by 7). This way the plants can intake what they need at a steady pace. The algae doesn't have a huge influx that slowly depletes over a week to take advantage of.

I think snails just breed if the water parameters are good, and there is enough food.

You do not need to remineralize top off water(whether tap, distilled, or ro/di). Only during water changes, if your livestock and plants need it, and your water source isn't naturally at those levels. Ideally you would want to always top off with 0 tds water. You definitely can lower ph and hardness by using distilled or ro/di water with your tap.

Cherry shrimp are not great at cleaning algae. Amano shrimp are definitely the better choice to supplement some snails and or otocinclus.

Go over the stand thoroughly, make sure its up to snuff. Definitely a pretty good deal if its intact. If you do get it I second testing it with water outside for preferably 24-48 hours at least.